Hershel and Daryl in a post-Maggie world. A familiar face also shows up.
Maggie was buried at the Bricks, where he son and daughter-in-law lived.
Daryl had proposed they would rebury Glenn next to her, giving them a chance to be together at least again, to which the others agreed.
Daryl, Hershel, Elijah, and a few others traveled to the ruins of the Hilltop, where the dug him up. It was the first time Hershel had seen his father, and he couldn't really comment what he thought of the remains.
It was the person who had influenced his life so much, but whom he had never met. A person he knew so well, yet not at all.
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The funeral at the Bricks was quiet, with no one openly crying. Maggie and Glenn were put to rest, with two proper gravestones shipped in from the Commonwealth.
The memorial service was held inside, with Hershel, Gena, Daryl, Carol, Aaron, and Elijah holding short speeches about Maggie, having been the closest to her.
It was a quiet affair.
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Daryl and Connie, who had finally become after he had come back from France, laid in bed that night
"How are you?" she asked, communicating via sign language.
"Another piece of my past gone. I'm feeling like I'm the only one who still remembers our original group. I'm afraid no one remembers when I'll be gone"
"Maybe you should write it down?"
"Don't have the talent to that"
"Ok. How about you tell me and I would write down?"
"Would you do that?"
"Yes. I've thought about writing a history for a while, and we both have so much to tell for these new generations that don't remember the horror of the early days"
"I would like that my love"
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A week after Maggie's funeral a familiar face came by the Bricks, immediately noticed by Daryl.
"Negan" the bowman said.
"Hi, Daryl" the former leader of the saviors replied.
"Why are you here?"
"I heard she's gone"
"She is. I don't allow you to visit her grave"
Negan looked down.
"I have to tell you something..."
"What?"
"Annie and Joshua are dead. A massive group bandits attacked our settlement Missouri and a lot of people died" the man said, holding back tears. "After she came back for me in New York and we defeated the Croat, she told me to go back to them since she didn't want them to live in a widowed family"
"I'm sorry that they're gone. Annie was a sweet person and I believe Joshua was a good son. But why are you here?"
"Resolution? I finally know what she felt like. I never got justice on those killers. They fled on boats, and I don't have the strength in me any more to find them and give them what they deserve. I will never see them pay for what they took from me. I can see now why Maggie always hated me"
"You won't find resolution here. Now go, before Hershel sees you"
"I already have" the young man said, with the two older men looking at him.
Negan looked the man. He looked so much like Glenn had that very fateful night.
"Hi, I just wanted to…"
"Please go" Hershel interrupted him.
Negan looked at him.
"Just go away. I'm grateful for you saving my life, but you have already hurt this family enough. I know mom let you go on better terms, but the hurt and the nightmares never truly went away. She continued to wake up screaming and sweaty of that night till the end" Hershel said, getting tears.
Negan looked at him, trying so say something, but Hershel continued.
"I want my parents to rest in peace, honor them and move on to the future, but you will always remind of the past and pain. I don't want the next generations of my family to live in trauma of what you did. I'm so sorry about your loss and I hope you find your peace, but I gotta do it as well."
Negan remained quiet, until he finally nodded in understanding.
The former leader of the saviors walked away, presumably heading towards the Commonwealth for whatever he lonely future he would have now.
"Was I too harsh?" Hershel asked Daryl as he watched Negan walk away.
"Maybe a little, but you want to move on and have every right to do so" Daryl replied. "You can't forgive, like your mother, but you want to focus on the future"
"I know"
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Hershel laid in bed with Gena, caressing her belly.
"Everything all right, honey?" she asked him, noticing he was looking at the ceiling.
"Yes… to an extent I'm finally at peace" Hershel said. "I think a big part of mom had died with dad. I hope she has found her peace at well"
He felt ashamed for saying that, but it was true.
Gena caressed his hair.
"I hope I can be the best father and husband for both of you"
"You will be, Hersh. Your mom also told me some things she asked me to tell only after she had passed"
Hershel turned to his wife, a bit confused.
"Your mom told me that she was very aware of not having been the best mother. Your birth and existence were the only reason for her to continue to live. She admitted that you growing up to resemble your father was both a blessing and a curse, reminding her of what was lost, but also what could be. You were the most important thing in the world for her, even if she could not always show that with her pain and hatred for Negan. She said that you had grown up to be good man, that you're the spitting image of your dad in both looks and character. You were her sunshine and light, and she knew was leaving this world knowing that you will live a good life with the people you loved"
Hershel looked at her, touched.
"I guess I did have a pretty great mom"
"You did, honey"
Hershel kissed his wife on the mouth after hearing his.
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Connie had taken her notes out, ready to start the first chapter of Daryl's memoir she had agreed to write on dictation, titled "The Walking Dead".
"It all started in Atlanta when me and my brother encountered a camp of fellow survivors…" Daryl began, recollecting the long-gone days when the old world fell and new one began to rise.
He would make sure that the people he loved, his family, would not be forgotten.
Jim, Jacqui, Otis, Sophia, Dale, Jimmy, Patricia, T-Dog, Lori, Oscar, Axel, Merle, Andrea, Hershel, Bob, Beth, Tyreese, Noah, Reg and Deanna Monroe, Denise, Abraham, Glenn, Olivia, Sasha, Eric, Carl, Tobin, Jesus, Enid, Tara, Henry, Alden, Luke, and Rosita, among many others. Their names would and lives would not be forgotten.
He would see to it.
What do you guys think of Daryl's memoir?
